Celebrity Life

The Butterfly Dress

"I think nature is endless and beautiful, so I try to occupy nature and never contradict it," once shared the designer. That statement rang especially true for his Spring/Summer 1997 collection, Les Insectes. The runway buzzed with models wearing bug-eyed sunglasses, headpieces resembling feelers and gowns woven with elements of spider webs and beetle shells. This dress, originally modelled by Jerry Hall, is embellished with sequins meant to mimic butterfly wings. It would later be worn by Jennifer Lopez, Beyoncé (see her Diva music video) and, most recently, Irina Shayk.

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The Harley Davidson Corset

Mugler was an avid motorcycle rider, even though he met with several accidents including one that prompted him to reconfigure his face. He was also fascinated by the edgy biker look; he created a suit resembling a motor vehicle with Cadillac ornaments almost a decade before his Spring/Summer 1992 collection, Les Cowboys, and this bustier hit the runway. As its name suggests, the corset was meant to mirror the front of a motorcycle. It was crafted from plastic, metal and Plexiglas, and even came with its own handlebars. It was a fierce design, and therefore fitting for Beyoncé to wear the vintage piece when promoting her I AM ... Sasha Fierce album. The singer also hired Mugler himself to create custom several costumes for her album tour.

(Photo by Pool ARNAL / GARCIA / Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)

The Robot Suit

As we mentioned, Beyoncé was big on Mugler. She wore him frequently on stage and in her music videos, including the one for Sweet Dreams. You might remember the look: the metallic gold bodysuit, fitted with matching gloves that looked like armour. It was inspired by an earlier design from Mugler’s 20th anniversary Fall/Winter 1995 collection, which was filled with sexy cyborg ensembles. According to Thierry-Maxime Loriot, curator of Mugler’s first major retrospective, “[Mugler] spent more than six months creating [the original robot suit] with specialists… It’s surprising and in terms of craftsmanship, it really pushes boundaries. It demonstrates Mugler’s interests in transhumanism, in modifying the body and creating new silhouettes. All the robot suits embody the savoir faire of the Mugler atelier.”

In 2021, Kim Kardashian tapped on Mugler to create a Halloween outfit that crossed his robot suit with the cowboy look.

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The Birth of Venus Dress

There are very few red carpet looks that you could describe as truly unforgettable. One of them is Cardi B's Mugler look for the Grammy Awards in 2019: a Swarovski-crystal satin sheath gown inspired by the Botticelli painting, Birth of Venus. The gown, like the robot suit, came from Mugler's 20th anniversary collection in 1995. It made Cardi B a notable fashion force: besides Beyoncé, the rapper was the only other celebrity that Mugler had dressed and opened his archives to at the time.

(Photo by Daniel SIMON/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)

The Wet Dress

Today, most people know Mugler not through Beyoncé, Lady Gaga or Cardi B, but Kim Kardashian. The billionaire began dressing in his vintage creations shortly after Cardi B did, coinciding with the launch of the French designer's first retrospective exhibition. But none of her Mugler looks were put in the spotlight quite like her "wet" dress for the Met Gala. Following the event's campy theme, Kardashian arrived in a corseted nude dress, seemingly dripping with raindrop-like crystals, which took Mugler eight months to create. Kardashian shared: “[Mugler] envisioned me as this California girl stepping out of the ocean, wet, dripping.” Kardashian's outfit would inspire several more "naked" dresses on the red carpet in the years to come.

(Photo by Karwai Tang / Getty Images)